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Aaron Hernandez indicted in murder case

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Former NFL player is charged with first-degree murder, weapons charges

He's charged in connection with the slaying of Odin Lloyd, 27

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the charges

The football star has been in police custody since he was arrested on June 26

A Bristol County, Massachusetts, grand jury indicted former NFL player Aaron Hernandez on a first-degree murder charge and five weapons charges Thursday.

Hernandez, a former New England Patriots tight end, is charged in connection with the slaying of his friend, Odin Lloyd, 27.

Prosecutors say Hernandez, 23, orchestrated Lloyd's shooting death. Hernandez and two other men allegedly picked Lloyd up on the morning of June 17; his body was found later that day in an industrial park near Hernandez's home.

Hernandez appeared in court Thursday afternoon to hear the court announce the indictment. He was handcuffed and wearing a white collared shirt under a dark sports coat.

As he sat down, Hernandez mouthed, "I love you" to a family member sitting in the gallery. Hernandez showed no emotion during the brief hearing.

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius was charged with murdering his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in February 2013. Pistorius, the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics, was convicted of murder and sentenced to six years in prison.

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Photos:Athletes charged with murder

Lawrence Phillips, a former NFL running back who was awaiting trial on charges of killing his prison cellmate last year, died in January after being found unresponsive in his prison cell, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. The death of Phillips, 40, was being investigated as a suicide, the department said. Phillips was sent to a California prison in 2008 after being convicted of domestic violence, false imprisonment and vehicle theft charges. While serving a 31-year sentence, authorities say, he killed his cellmate in April 2015. A trial was anticipated in Kern County, California.

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Former NFL player Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2013 shooting death of semi-pro player Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister. He also faces murder charges for the 2012 killings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

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Rae Carruth, who was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, became the first active NFL player ever charged with first-degree murder. His pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, was killed in December 1999, and prosecutors said he arranged for her to be killed in a drive-by shooting. Carruth was eventually convicted of conspiring in her murder, and he is now in prison. The unborn child, a boy, survived.

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Middleweight boxer Rubin Carter, known as "Hurricane" in the ring, served 18 years in prison for a triple homicide that took place in a bar in 1966. A federal judge overturned his sentence and that of his supposed accomplice, John Artis, in 1985, ruling that the conviction was based on "racial stereotypes, fears and prejudices."

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Groundbreaking skateboarder Mark "Gator" Rogowski confessed to beating and raping Jessica Bergsten, then choking her to death and burying her in the desert in 1991. Bergsten was a friend of Rogowski's former girlfriend, and Rogowski testified that he acted out of misplaced anger against his ex. Rogowski was denied parole in 2011 and will not be eligible for parole again until 2018.

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Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and two others were charged with murder in 2000 after a fight in a popular Atlanta bar district left two men dead on the street. The murder charges against Lewis were dropped after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice and testified against his friends; they were later acquitted. Lewis announced his retirement before helping the Ravens win the Super Bowl in 2013.

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Bruno Fernandes das Dores de Souza, a former goalie for the Brazilian soccer club Flamengo, was convicted in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, a court said in March 2013. He was sentenced to 22 years and three months for the murder of Eliza Samudio, who had disappeared in 2010. Souza, his lover and his ex-wife were among nine people charged with torturing and murdering Samudio, who had been trying to prove Souza had fathered her son.

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Although O.J. Simpson was found not guilty, the former football star's 1995 murder trial has kept him a household name. Simpson was acquitted in the death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. In October 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison on multiple counts, including armed robbery and kidnapping, in connection with a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel in 2007.

Police search lake in Hernandez case

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Fee said he was pleased with the indictment because it gives his client "a path to trial," and that a jury will find Hernandez "innocent."

The former football star has been in police custody since he was arrested on June 26.

Prior to the indictment, Hernandez pleaded not guilty.

The indictment circumvented the need for the scheduled probable cause hearing that was originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Upon reviewing the case, a grand jury determined that prosecutors had enough evidence to constitute probable cause, or that the charges are reasonable based on the facts presented. The case against Hernandez is now one step closer to trial.

The judge scheduled a hearing for next Friday to deal with two outstanding defense motions.

The next step in Hernandez's case is his arraignment, during which he'll be informed of the crimes he is charged with. He also will have the opportunity to enter a formal plea with the court. No date has been set for Hernandez's arraignment.

Co-defendant Ernest Wallace, who was allegedly in the car with Hernandez the night Lloyd was killed, also was indicted. He was charged with being accessory after the fact to murder.

The grand jury has also indicted Tanya Singleton, Hernandez' cousin, for contempt of court. She's charged with refusing to testify before a grand jury, despite being granted immunity.

Her attorney, Peter Parker, declined to comment.

The Hernandez case has thrust prosecutors into the national spotlight. Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter downplayed any additional pressure.

"My career ... will be defined more by this case than all of the other things we've done. So to that extent there is added pressure, but I can't say in any way that we shirk from it. I think we welcomed it," Sutter told CNN.